


The Visitor Request

by meusvita



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Azkaban, Gen, Godfather Sirius Black, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius doesn't escape 3rd year, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-07 18:48:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10367076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meusvita/pseuds/meusvita
Summary: It's one week before Harry's fourteenth birthday when he receives a letter from the Ministry of Magic, Azkaban Management Office, informing him his godfather—Sirius Black—has requested a visit from his godson.I'M GOING TO CONTINUE THIS I KNOW IT'S BEEN MONTHS BUT I WILL CONTINUE. I'M PLANNING OUT MY STUFF SO DON'T WORRY. SORRY FOR THE WAIT. (9/27/17)





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shadow of a Doubt](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/277413) by ZairaAlbereo. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First actual fan-fic! And only because I was really sad the other one hadn't been updated in years. Hope you enjoy reading.

Fingers stumble as they rush to open the envelope they hold. Green eyes shrouded with worry and panic glance towards the door, as if expecting something to come through at any moment. Once hands manage to get a grip on the letter, they let the envelope with the words _The Ministry of Magic_ flutter to the ground. 

Harry hurriedly reads through the message. 

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_This is a letter informing you that Sirius Black, Prisoner #390, has filed in a Visitor Request Form inviting you for a visit to our facility._

_As is required for high-risk prisoners, visitors must be family over age 14—with a guardian's signature if underage—to make an appointment to visit our premises._

_Sirius Black has officially been confirmed as your godfather, so as of your fourteenth birthday, you will be granted the right to make appointments to visit the facility._

_You will be granted one week after July 31st to make an appointment, otherwise the Visitor Request Form will be denied._

_Guardian's Signature ________________

_Thank you for your time,_

_Lorena Appleworth_

_Azkaban Management Office_

_Ministry of Magic_

Harry's brain takes a few seconds to register what it just read, and when he realizes he nearly stumbles from the shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Please do point out any possible improvements and/or mistakes!


	2. Thoughts and Choices

Sunlight hits Harry's back like a constant tirade of hot water, leaving his shirt a sweaty mess and his hair an even messier abomination. 

But the heat and sweat as he weeds the garden doesn't bother him. No, those are things he tolerates and struggles with every summer vacation. What bothers Harry is the letter sitting innocently on his desk. 

At first, when he saw the name _Ministry of Magic_ scribbled on the envelope, he'd thought he was in trouble again. Harry had been expecting Ministry officials to bust in to throw him into prison for the rest of his life or to kick him out of Hogwarts. Either were horrifying situations. But those worries were assuaged after reading the actual message. 

The letter soon brought up long buried dreams of a person opening his cupboard door and taking him in with open arms; of someone tucking him in with a goodnight kiss every night. Fantasies of a loving family that he soon learned later on would never be given to him. Or at least Harry _thought_ wouldn't. 

Now he apparently had a godfather! Albeit an incarcerated one...but who knew how long he had left in prison? A year? Two? He couldn't help the hope blossoming like roses in his chest. Harry managed to crush these hopes rather quickly though, since there was no guarantee this man would even want to take him in. But a little part of his mind—or heart, his emotions always did have a certain power over him—told him that _they_ were the ones contacting _him_ , not the other way around. 

"This is definitely the stuff from movies," he mumbled quietly, "long lost relatives coming to the rescue...who knew."

For the rest of the day, Harry went through his chores at the Dursley's in a daze. Whatever taunts Dudley threw his way went in one ear and through the other. 

—————

Harry didn't think much about what his supposed godfather did to land himself in prison until much later, while making lunch; he'd been wondering for most of the time why nobody had told him he even had a godfather. He hoped with all his being it was something small, but considering he was a high-risk prisoner, chances were the crime committed was going to be something pretty serious. Maybe he'd tried robbing Gringotts? He had no idea. What else could land you in Azkaban?

_"Boy, burn that food and watch yourself go without dinner!"_ yelled Vernon, startling Harry out of his thoughts. 

"Sorry, Uncle Vernon." 

He quickly finished his work and took his meager 'dinner' upstairs. Harry would soon be forced to ask the Weasleys for something to eat, else hunger would drive him insane. 

As he chewed, Harry started to think about what he'd do with the letter. He had a whole week until his birthday and a few more days afterwards to decide his course of action. 

He had to go see Sirius Black. Why wouldn't he? It _was_ his godfather. But what if the guy was a murderer? A rapist? What did he know about him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe he could ask somebody for information about him. But who? To have been named godfather, he had to have been trusted and known by his parents—and just imagining the possibilities that came with that fact drove him crazy—so whoever knew his Mom and Dad must've known Black too. 

Watching Hedwig snooze, he searched his brain for the right person to question. Then it hit him. Hagrid!

If Sirius Black was friends with his Mom and Dad, then Hagrid would probably remember him! 

Finally having a solution, he left what was left of dinner and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and started writing. 

_Dear Hagrid,_

_How has your summer been? It's been pretty hot here lately, but otherwise everything's been pretty decent._

_I have a quick question Hagrid, do you know who Sirius Black is? I read his name somewhere and I got curious! Any information would be nice._

_Harry_

He did his best to sound casual asking the question, as he got the feeling Hagrid wouldn't appreciate him visiting a criminal if he decided to go. 

Satisfied with what he had, he rolled up the letter and decided to wait for nightfall to send it. He needn't to disturb Hedwig's sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Please do point out any possible improvements and/or mistakes!


	3. No Going Back

_Dear Harry,_

_Sirius Black is a **madman**. Killed 12 muggles and a wizard with an explosive spell, then **laughed** about it in the middle of the street surrounded by dead bodies! Insane I say! Where in Merlin's beard did you hear about him, Harry? _

_Hagrid_

Harry felt his face drain of blood as he read Hagrid's response. He re-read it to make sure he hadn't made a mistake.

A _murderer._ Thirteen people in one go.

All fantasies about living with this person disappeared with a pop. 

No wonder Black was a high-risk prisoner.

Setting the letter down, Harry re-evaluated his thoughts about his godfather. Was he still as determined to see him as before? Definitely not. Was he still curious? Even more so than before. What in the world had made his parents choose this man in the first place? 

Sighing dejectedly, he slumped down on his bed, yelping when something jabbed his spine. 

He stood up and pulled back the sheets to reveal the photo album Hagrid had given him, which he'd been flipping through yesterday afternoon. 

Turning to the wedding picture of his Mom and Dad, he wondered which of the faces around them was Sirius Black. Or was Black the one taking the picture? 

As Harry stared into the smiling faces of his parents, he suddenly decided that any information about his mother and father was worth _something._ Even if the information came from a mass murderer. 

He snapped the album shut with a certain finality. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

He'd made his choice. 

—————

Harry needed a guardian's signature, and his best bet was Uncle Vernon. He needed a good excuse for why he required a signature, a believable one at that. Harry was certain Vernon wouldn't bother reading the letter if he gave it to him, since he'd be _associating_ himself with 'freaks,' but he wasn't taking a chance. 

He brooded for a bit before he came up with an idea that almost made him cackle. The threat of a wizard entering the house would drive Vernon to do _anything..._

With a decent plan in mind, he went downstairs to talk to his Uncle. 

—————

"Uncle Vernon."

Said person looked up sharply and glared at Harry, who'd walked in holding a piece of paper—a letter by the looks of it. 

"What is it _boy,"_ snarled Vernon as he went back to whatever papers he was reading. Harry glanced at them before looking back to his Uncle. 

"A few of my professors wanted to visit to talk, you know, about what I've learned so far in school." Harry stated with a carefully neutral face

It only took a second for what he said to sink into Vernon's head. 

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN VISIT?!" His face contorted to anger before blanching at the implications. It was time for Harry's move. 

"I told them it wasn't necessary of course, but they wouldn't believe me. They said you'd need to sign this letter for them to cancel the visit-" 

Harry didn't even have a chance to flinch, since with a speed he thought impossible with Vernon's size, his Uncle snatched the letter out of Harry's hands and signed where he'd indicated. 

"Send that immediately boy! I want none of your kind in this house! It's enough with you polluting it!"

Harry hid his grin as he walked back upstairs, "Sure, Uncle!"

Success!

As Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her off, he realized that now there was no going back. He mentally gulped. Hermione would've killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided that I'm going to update every Saturday! I'm hoping later on I can increase the frequency, but for now that'll have to do…  
> Hope you have enjoyed reading this! 
> 
> Unedited. Please do point out any possible improvements and/or mistakes!


	4. The Trip

The water raged around Harry as he tried to keep his balance on the small boat. Fog so thick he could cut it with a knife obscured his already bad eyesight. Every nerve in his body screamed for him to turn back and run away, to forget this whole ordeal and get back into bed. Harry was finally heading to Azkaban. 

"Uh, sir? How much more until we arrive?" asked Harry. He'd refrained from asking earlier, in fear of sounding like an impatient child, but nervousness had finally won out over his pride. 

The Auror—Auror Stonewell—glanced back at him before looking forward again. He stared into the fog as if he could see through it.. For a second Harry thought he was going to ignore him, but Stonewell answered with his back turned. 

"...we're already here."

Harry regretted asking. 

A building soon reached his line of vision, a black cloud obscuring a part of the structure. The temperature around him suddenly dropped, sending shivers down his spine. This was definitely a prison. 

_"Expecto Patronum."_

A silvery figure erupted from the Auror's wand, taking form as it finally burst free. A dove circled Harry and Stonewell's head once before daintily landing at the head of the boat. Harry was mesmerized by the bird. 

He was about to question what the silvery dove was for, but Stonewell must've known he was going to ask. 

"A patronus. It offers protection, so stay near it."

"Protection from what?" Harry asked. 

Stonewell turned around looking shocked—the most emotion he'd seen from the Auror—at Harry. "You don't know what Dementors are?"

Harry shook his head. 

"Dementors are the cloaked guards that keep this place...secure. They're also what makes this place hell. Dementors suck out every shred of happiness you have, leaving you with the worst of your memories, which in time drives you insane."

Harry stared at him in horror, feeling dread crawl up in his stomach at the description. "Will Sirius Black still be sane?"

"Very unlikely," he responded, and having nothing else to say, Stonewell turned around. 

Harry looked back to the prison. As he stared at the building, he noticed something off about the cloud hovering near it. The cloud seemed to move very quickly, and wisps that looked very much like cloaks swarmed around...with dread he realized that that was no cloud. 

Harry, now incredibly shaken, decided he needed a distraction very quickly, else he'd jump out of the boat and swim back home. 

"Why is your patronus a dove? Can you choose the form it takes?" Harry asked. 

Without turning around, Stonewell answered. "My wife loved doves." 

He offered nothing else, so Harry dropped the subject. He'd investigate the Patronus Spell later on. Anything to guard against those...Dementors...sounded incredibly nice. 

Their boat finally hit land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So…this chapter became longer than I expected, and I ended up cutting it up to this. Was originally going to include the meeting with Sirius…I'll hopefully post that part tomorrow since this chapter was extremely dull. 
> 
> Unedited. Please do point out any possible improvements and/or mistakes!


	5. The First Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *meep* So err...I'm bad at updating?
> 
> I'm a terrible person, I'M SO SORRYYYY! DX  
> But no worries! I will finish this story even if it takes me ten years (which I'll try to avoid) to do!

Harry entered a room with a window, a desk, and a rickety chair for furniture. 

Auror Stonewell had guided him through a series of twists and turns, not stopping to greet any of the other Aurors in the area or to acknowledge the howls and screams of the prisoners. He now stood at the doorway, the silvery dove still perched on his shoulder, staring at Harry weirdly. Harry shuffled his feet under the scrutiny. 

"Sirius Black is behind the screen," said Stonewell as he pointed to the sole window in the sparsely furnished room. "We can see him, but all he can see is a blank wall."

Harry looked into the window and finally took note of the man whose wrists were shackled together. 

Black, because that's who he must be, looked terrible. He was extremely emaciated, his clothes—which didn't seem to offer any type of warmth—hung limp around his thin frame and his hair was a tangled mane that reached his elbows. Harry couldn't see Black's face from where he was, since the man was huddled in a far corner facing the wall, but he could see that Black was barefoot. Crimson red spots dotted the floor.

In all honesty, this wasn't what Harry had been expecting to see. He'd been prepared for a broad-shouldered man, who walked around as if he had done no wrong. Who put his feet up on the table—which Harry noted was exactly like the one in his room, but bolted down—and sat languidly in the chair. He'd expected a man who sneered at everything and everyone, a man who didn't seem to care about anything. But instead Harry saw a seemingly broken person, huddling a corner as if his life depended on it. Harry felt the first signs of sympathy growing in his chest. 

"You'll have one and a half hour to speak with Black. Now move aside, the dementors are coming," informed Stonewell, who'd still been scrutinizing Harry. 

Dazed, Harry stepped to the side, making sure to stay near Stonewell and the patronus. 

Two Dementors entered the room, bringing in a cold current of air with them. They seemed to pause and stare at Harry, making him extremely nervous, but they immediately turned around to face Black again. The man spun around and tried to back away, but was quickly grabbed and held down by the creatures. He struggled and writhed, but to no avail; the Dementors were apparently incredibly strong. He was forcibly strapped down to the chair, which was also chained to the floor. The Dementors then left, but not before hovering around Black, who was now shaking like a leaf in his restraints, and pausing slightly again to glance at Harry. 

Stonewell started walking towards the door, seemingly not having noticed the Dementor's interest in Harry. 

"One and a half hour. Call if you need help, I'll be right outside."

He closed the door behind him, leaving Harry with Black. 

—————

Ravenous and slightly insane silver eyes stared at Harry with the intensity of an owl. 

He wasn't necessarily scared of Black—Stonewell was right outside—but it was disconcerting at the least to have someone stare at you as if you were an alien of some sort, so he stayed rooted to the spot. 

"James...?"

The name was whispered in a hoarse voice, as if the owner of it hadn't used it in a long time. With a jolt and horrible feeling in his chest, Harry realized Black was confusing him for his father. The horrible feeling in his chest only increased in intensity at the thought of destroying the hope he heard in the man's voice. Silver eyes gleamed with a shy kind of light. A light of hope Harry had seen when looking in a mirror as a young child.

"N-no. It's...Harry..." he stammered regretfully, already imagining the crestfallen expression. But for some reason, instead of becoming sad and mournful, Black's face lit up like the sun. Years seemed to be scraped off his features. 

"Harry?"

He nodded an affirmative. And the look on Black's face only became happier. He looked at Harry as if he were the key to infinite happiness. Harry wasn't exactly sure what to do with himself. Maybe the man _was_ insane. 

"It's...been so long..." whispered Black, "...but look at you. Exactly like your father, except for-"

"Except for the eyes..." finished Harry. He'd already heard it so many times. Black smiled faintly, the ghost of a probably much more radiant expression. 

"You can come closer you know, I won't bite..."

Harry nervously shuffled forward, sitting down stiffly, hands on his lap. "You...knew my parents, right?"

Black smiled wistfully, his eyes still staring at Harry as if trying to memorize his face. "I did. They were...family. Your Mom and Dad. They were such amazing people," his eyes softened, "and when they had you, they also became amazing parents. You were so tiny and fragile...whenever your Mum let me hold you, I was terrified I'd drop you..."

Harry listened with rapt attention. This is what he'd been hoping for when he came here, when he sent off that letter. He'd always wanted the story of his life before he became an icon. He'd always wanted the story of what could've been his, the life he could've lived. And yes, maybe he wished the information didn't come from a mass murderer who was also probably insane, but it was still information was it not? 

"You know…you always loved to sleep on my stomach? It could take your Mother an entire hour to put you to bed, but the moment they put you on me, you'd knock out immediately." Black smiled wistfully, and Harry felt a horrible ache in his chest.

"James...he'd always joke about it. Said that I was so boring I already put you to sleep. And I'd always laugh...boring was never a word used to describe me..." Sirius trailed off and his eyes went blank. Harry could feel the tears about to fall. 

He had been _loved_ at one point in time. He'd had a _family_...

And this man had been a part of it. Why in the world had he ruined it? He talked about him as if he meant the world to him. He praised his parents to the heavens. He'd even accepted the role of godfather. So why had he destroyed the chance of a family by...by _murdering_ all those people? Harry could feel the anger and despair bubbling in him. What had Black wanted asking for a visit? It couldn't have been just to see him. No, he hadn't cared back then, so why now? Harry _had_ to ask. Though he doubted he'd get the truth.

"Uh, sir? Mr.Black?" 

Black snapped to attention and stared at Harry weirdly. 

"Call me Sirius, please. I'm not _that_ old." responded Sirius after a few seconds, slightly grinning.

Harry nodded, blushing slightly.

"Why did you want to see me...uh, Sirius?" 

Black, Sirius, looked confused at the question. 

"You're my godson, why wouldn't I?" 

Before Harry could reply, the door behind him opened. 

"Time's up, let's go." said Stonewell, two Dementors following behind him. Sirius looked at Harry quickly.

"If...if you want to talk some more...it'd be nice to talk to see you again." 

Harry looked into the hopeful silver eyes, and eventually nodded. 

Sirius smiled slightly, before the Dementors moved forward to grab him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Please do point out any possible improvements and/or mistakes!


End file.
